A Brighter Day For Silicon Valley Start-ups

Solar company hauls in $45 million

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We recently asked where Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists were going to spend their money next, and we got some answers. Turns out there is still money out there for tech startups, and it's flowing again. Just this morning Solaria, a Fremont company designing and making photovoltaic modules, told us they've nailed down 45 million dollars in new funding.

In this day of mature startups and cautious VCs, this kind of a haul is practically boom-like. Several companies participated in the funding round, and Solaria expects to grow in the near future, necessary to stay competitive in the super-hot and competitive solar market. Solaria CEO Daniel Shugar calls the funding "the most significant milestone yet" in the company's history.

What Happened to the Start-Ups

If the 1990's were the boom years for Silicon Valley startups, you could probably call the new model Modern Maturity. (Published Monday, May 3, 2010)

We've talked a lot about how VC funding is the lifeblood of Silicon Valley startups, and how startups themselves are the lifeblood of the Valley's tech industry. Deals like this one (and I should mention that just down the road in Sunnyvale, content acceleration startup Cotendo notched a 12 million dollar funding deal of its own) prove that while they're still careful, VCs are nonetheless looking to put their money somewhere.

With 57 million dollars in two companies separated by about 15 miles, it's a good day to be optimistic about Silicon Valley's future. Because no matter how scattered our stock market is, it's good to know that a consistent market for start-up funding may be on the horizon.

SIlicon Valley: What's Next?

We decided to dig deep into Silicon Valley, its culture, and its businesses, for a week-long series of reports called "Boom, Bust, and Beyond." (Published Sunday, May 2, 2010)